Systematic Study of Late Cretaceous Lizards from the Mongolian Gobi Desert

小行星9806811 晚白垩世是大多数现存蜥蜴分支建立和早期多样化的关键时期。 蒙古戈壁沙漠是这个时代蜥蜴化石的主要来源。 蒙古科学院-美国自然历史博物馆探险队从戈壁收集的大量化石为开展拟议项目提供了核心材料。 该系列包括约700个保存完好的头骨，与下颌骨连接;有些头骨与后颅骨骼。 这份材料记录了四个高等类群的大约30个分类群，其中至少有11个新分类群需要描述。 由于这些样本包括各种现代蜥蜴分支的重要基础分类群，对这些化石的研究将大大提高对蜥蜴进化的认识，并为更好地了解主要蜥蜴群的晚白垩世增殖带来了巨大希望。 先前对戈壁沙漠晚白垩世蜥蜴的研究揭示了严重的分类和系统发育问题。 许多重要的植物分类群的描述不充分或不正确，以及由解剖结构的错误描述或相关分类群的关系的误解所引起的问题迫切需要解决。 拟议的研究包括对知之甚少的分类群进行重大的分类学修订，以澄清它们的解剖细节，并对它们的关系进行忠实的评估。 将对选定的蜥蜴分类群进行全面的分支分析。 这些分析将包括重要的基础成员的各种分支从戈壁样本，并将纳入数据从以前的工作现存的蜥蜴分支。 建议的研究有望澄清现有的混乱分类的戈壁蜥蜴，并提供了一个明确的分类方案的基础上恢复系统发育关系的戈壁和相关类群。

9806811 Gao The Late Cretaceous is a crucial interval for the establishment and early diversification of most extant lizard clades. The Mongolian Gobi Desert is a major source of fossil lizards of this age. A large fossil collection amassed by the Mongolian Academy of Sciences-American Museum of Natural History Expeditions from the Gobi provides the core material for undertaking the proposed project. The collection consists of some 700 exceptionally well-preserved skulls in articulation with mandibles; some with postcranial skeletons. This material documents some 30 taxa in four higher groups, among which at least 11 new taxa need to be described. As the samples include phylogenetically important basal taxa of various modern lizard clades, study of these fossils will substantially improve knowledge of lizard phylogeny, and holds great promise for better appreciation of the Late Cretaceous proliferation of the major lizard groups. Previous studies of Late Cretaceous lizards from the Gobi Desert reveal serious taxonomic and phylogenetic problems. Many phylogenetically important taxa were inadequately or incorrectly described, and the problems stemming from misdescription of anatomical structures or misinterpretation of relationships of the relevant taxa badly need to be resolved. The proposed study includes major taxonomic revision of the poorly understood taxa, in order to clarify specifics of their anatomy and to provide faithful assessment of their relationships. Comprehensive cladistic analyses of selected lizard taxa will be conducted. These analyses will include important basal members of various clades from the Gobi sample and will incorporate data from previous work on extant lizard clades. The proposed study promises to clarify the existing chaotic classification of the Gobi lizards and provides an explicit classification scheme on the basis of recovered phylogenetic relationships of Gobi and related taxa.